According to the Nielsen media index report released on Thursday, TNP has maintained its daily readership (print and digital combined) at 9 per cent of the adult population in Singapore.

Based on surveys conducted between July last year and June this year on 4,686 people aged 15 and above on their media consumption, TNP’s print edition had a readership of 8 per cent, while the digital readership was at 1 per cent.

No small feat, when you consider the backdrop of changing media consumption patterns.

TNP also continues to be the platform of choice to reach young readers.

The Nielsen index showed that TNP remains the local newspaper with the highest proportion of its readers aged 15-29, with 30 per cent of its readers in this age group.

Another indicator of TNP’s youthful appeal: the median age of the paper’s readers remains the lowest, at 39, among all the newspapers here.

Connecting with readers

Overall, The Straits Times continues to be the most-read English newspaper, with an aggregated daily readership of 32 per cent.

The report also revealed that television viewership and magazine readership had dropped by 4.6 percentage points and 2.5 percentage points respectively, compared to the previous year.

Ms Rebecca Tan, Managing Director of Nielsen’s Media business in Singapore and Malaysia, said that newspapers are embracing the opportunity to connect with their readers, and with the availability of apps from many major Singapore newspaper titles, mobile readership continues to grow.

Commenting on the findings, TNP editor Dominic Nathan said: “In a highly competitive media consumption landscape, TNP’s results tell us we are on the right track.

“The surveys were completed before the launch of the TNP app in July and we are confident of growing our digital readership with a revamp of our website as well.”

Innovative ways

TNP continues to stay relevant to a younger audience through successful events like its New Face pageant and its strong football coverage.

“This also makes us an ideal marketplace for savvy advertisers looking for innovative ways to connect with the right audience,” Mr Nathan added.

On the editorial front, it has been a stellar year for TNP, winning five Society for News Design Excellence Awards — the most in a single year for any local publication.

“Our ongoing coverage of the antics of errant retailers in Sim Lim Square is another hallmark of the paper’s DNA — telling it like it is, with our reporters right in the thick of action,” said Mr Nathan.

Over the years

2014The New Paper won in the following categories at the 2014 Society for News Design Excellence Awards:

Features page design, for an innovative design for the Iron Man 3 movie and a one-page infographic, Know Your Minions, inspired by the movie Despicable Me 2

Breaking news photography, for a news photograph of the Little India riot

Overall redesign

Sports section redesign

2011
TNP was placed second in Marketing magazine’s Newspaper of the Year rankings.

2010
TNP’s team of artists produced a 10-page guide commissioned by the Singapore Tourism Board, depicting Orchard Road’s night scene. That series of infographics won the Pacific Area Newspaper Publishers Association (Panpa) Marketing-Sponsorship award and clinched honours at the Panpa Newspaper of the Year Awards.

Panpa is a Sydney-based body comprising more than 300 newspaper publishers and suppliers from 14 countries in the Pacific Rim.

The infographics also won Singapore Press Holdings Infographics of the Year award and a silver award at the SPH Ink Awards that same year.